Israel has begun allowing a trickle of food and medicine into the Gaza Strip after sealing the territory’s two million Palestinians off from all imports for more than two-and-a-half months.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he eased the blockade under pressure from unnamed allies to shore up support for Israel‘s latest major offensive against Hamas. Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in recent days, and the humanitarian crisis is the worst it’s been in 19 months of conflict.
United Nations agencies and aid groups, which ran out of food to distribute weeks ago, have welcomed the move but say the promised aid is nowhere near what’s needed. Only five trucks have entered Gaza since Monday, the U.N. says, compared to around 600 per day during a ceasefire earlier this year.
Experts have warned of famine if the blockade is not lifted and the military operation continues. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation and one million others can barely get enough food, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.The U.K., France and Canada, close allies of Israel, called the aid “wholly inadequate” and threatened “concrete actions,” including sanctions, over Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Gaza begins to see aid for 1st time in 2.5 months.
